One of the scariest and chilling films of the 2000's

Rating: 9/10 (8 May 2007)

28 Days Later was too scary for me the first time I watched it at age 14. When I tried again at age 17, I was scared again, but it still kept me interested...all the way to the end, and boy am I glad I did. Witness the rebirth of the zombie/survival horror film by watching Danny Boyle's masterpiece, 28 Days Later.
Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakes in a London hospital to find that he's alone. That's fine, as many patients are alone when they wake. The problem is that he's literally alone. Everyone seems to have vanished. The hospital is completely empty, and as he journeys the streets of London, he finds they are empty too. Finally, he finds some people, people who upon seeing him, pursue him with the intent to kill him. Eventually, he finds other people who explain that the others have been infected with a rage virus that turns the victim into a rage driven killing machine.
The film is more than visually scary, but the physical violence is quite brutal. The zombies themselves are very scary with what appears to be eyes soaked in blood. It's classic horror in the modern era, and that's why the film will appeal to so many different horror fans. Psychological horror and slasher fans will both be very happy. The film is also a drama about the fight for survival, centering on the characters played by Cillian Murphy (Red Eye) and Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest). There is no real villain of the film, but Christopher Eccleston's character definitely can be considered a bad guy. And he does one hell of a job with it as a military commander. Murphy plays the classic hero, but at the same time he is not the nicest guy in the world. The ending shows what happens when you tick off a guy like Jim. Naomie Harris is likable as well despite her character's blunt and rash behavior, which is a sign of a job well done by the actress. Brendan Gleeson adds a sense of warmth in a supporting role, delivering, as always, an enjoyable performance.
Danny Boyle's direction is stellar as he creates an apocalyptic vision that can really scare you to the bone. Like I said, not all the horror is visual and physical. There is also a good deal of psychological horror, and any horror film that balances physical and psychological horror is well on its way to being a classic, which 28 Days Later is. Written by Alex Garland, 28 Days Later is the best horror film of 2002 (Sorry, The Ring wasn't this good), and one of the top 5 of the 2000's. It's a classic that shouldn't be missed.
8/10 --spy